I enjoyed the tight-knit community at the clinic, especially the relationships I built with the patients. It was very helpful that the other aides and physical therapists were so willing to help me learn/increase my knowledge in the field and were genuinely hoping to pass on experience that would make me successful in the future.
What I wish was different
I wish I had started working on my interpersonal skills from the beginning of the internship. I started off with less responsibilities because I did not know as much quite yet, so I had less patient interaction. I later began developing these interpersonal skills more as the internship continued because I was interacting with patients a lot more and leading them through their entire exercise programs. This was my first real job experience so it was a good starting point.
Advice
One piece of advice I would give would be to form significant relationships with the patients. It is beneficial to do this in order to help them feel comfortable throughout their sessions and more trusting in you as their exercise prescriber. Frequently checking in on how they feel during an exercise also helps give you a gauge of their pain and if they need to modify or progress a specific exercise.
